Licker-in in a carding engine



KUNIO AOKl Nov. 20, 1962 LICKER-IN IN A CARDING ENGINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 29, 1959 INVENTOR.

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Nov. 20, 1962 KUNIO AOKl 3,

LICKER-IN IN A CARDING ENGINE Filed June 29, 1959 2 h etsheet 2 Kan/0 INVENTOR:

BYWMZUM riited States Patent @fifice 3,054,316 Patented Nov. 20, 1962 3,li64,316 LICKER-EJ IN A HARDING ENGINE Kunio Aolai, 77 Yamasa'aa-che, Higashisnmiyeshi-ku, Gsaka, Japan Filed .Iune 29, 1959, Ser. No. 823,389 Claims priority, application Japan June 27, 1958 Claims. (Cl. 19-105) This invention relates to a licker-in in a carding engine. A licker-in heretofore known consists of a rotating cylinder with saw teeth, and fibers supplied from a lap fed by a feed roller are plucked from the lap by the saw teeth, from which saw teeth the fibers are taken by needle cloth surface of a carding cylinder revolving at a high speed. While the fibers are spread by the saw teeth, short fibers and other light foreign matters contained in the fibers fiow in the air stream produced by rotation of the licker-in, and eventually deposit in a still air space beneath the licker-in due to gravity, while heavier matters are thrown by centrifugal force or collide with a mote-knife or knives and fall into the still air space, thereby separating from the fibers.

The main object of this invention is to provide a means in a licker-in to draw off light foreign matters by vacuum from the fibers during the spreading treatment, while heavier matters are separated by centrifugal force and gravity.

Another object of this invention is to provide a means to catch available fibers which are floating in the air stream around the licker-in and which may fall down into the still air space.

According to this invention, a licker-in consists of a rotating perforated cylinder with saw teeth provided thereon, and a stationary vacuum box provided in the cylinder. The under side of the cylinder is widely opened to facilitate removal of foreign matters separated from the fibers, and a large opening across the entire width of the vacuum box on its peripheral portion is placed adjacent to the inner cylindrical surface of the perforated cylinder, thereby light foreign matters are sucked into the vacuum box separating from the fibers which are passing by in front of the opening. This novel licker-in serves not only to spread fibers and to separate heavy foreign matters therefrom as a known lickcr-in does, but to remove lighter matters by the suction eifect of an exhaust fan. Available fibers which are not picked up by the saw teeth of the perforated cylinder and are floating around the cylinder are caught by the suction efiect of the fan. The air stream caused by the fan assists the transfer of fibers toward the carding cylinder.

The invention will be described in detail by way of examples, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section of a rear part of a carding engine equipped with a licker-in according to this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the lines II- O--II of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the right end part of FIGURE 2, and FIGURES 4 and 5 are similar views respectively to FIGURES l and 2 illustrating a modification of the licker-in, FIG. 5 being a section taken along line V-V of FIG. 4.

In the drawing, a licker-in A is mounted on the machine frame between a feed roller 2 and a carding cylinder 4 as in the conventional carding engine. It comprises a revolving perforated cylinder 3 with saw teeth 3a and small perforations 3b over the whole peripheral surface of the cylinder.

The upper part of the licker-in and a part of the carding cylinder adjacent to the licker-in are closed by a cylindrical casing 6 spaced from the surface of the perforated cylinder, and the under part of the cylindrical casing is open, and a mote-knife 5 or knives are provided in the opening. There is a stationary vacuum box 7 provided in the perforated cylinder.

The perforated cylinder and the vacuum box are mounted respectively on two shafts 11 and 12, aligned along the axis of the perforated cylinder, and the cylinder is driven by the shaft 12 while the vacuum box can. be turned through a small angle by the shaft 11 when the position thereof must be changed. The interior of the vacuum box is connected with the suction side of an exhaust fan 13, and a large opening 9a of the vacuum box is adjacent the inner circumferential surface of the perforated cylinder.

The normal position of the opening is between the mote-knife or knives and the portion where the licker-in is most closely adjacent to the carding cylinder, but it can be adjusted according to the kind of fibers treated, speed of the licker-in, and so on.

A construction of a vacuum box and a means of securing the licked-in and the vacuum box on the shafts is illustrated in FIGURE 2 by way of example.

The vacuum box has a space 9 surrounded by a plate 14 of U-cross-section and extending along the entire length of the perforated cylinder, each end of which plate is welded to the bottom of a substantially cylindrical case 15, the interior of the latter being in communication with the space 9 and defining a dead air space 16 outside the vacuum box. A boss member 17 is rigidly secured to the bottom of the case 15 at its center, and is mounted on the shaft 11, whereby the vacuum box is fixed to the shaft. The open end of the case 15 is placed in the open end of the perforated cylinder.

At each end of the perforated cylinder is provided a radial arm 18 and 18a on which perforated cylinder 3 is mounted, and a bearing 19 and 19a are provided in the boss of each arm, respectively. The ends of the perforated cylinder are rotatably fitted in the bores 20a of a casing 20 which is a part of the machine frame. Radial arm 18 is rotatably supported on shaft 11 by bearing 19.

The shaft 11 is supported in a sleeve 22 rigidly secured on the casing 20 at one end thereof, and in a ball bearing 1% in a boss 18!) at the center of arms 18a at the other end. The shaft 12 is supported at one end in a bearing 21 in casing 26, and is rigidly secured to the boss 18b of the arm 13a at the other end, whereby the roller 3 is rotated by the shaft 12 which is driven by a motor or a driving pulley, not shown.

At the external end of the shaft 11 is secured a handle 23 in which a curved slot 2 is provided as is best shown in FIGURE 3, and a stud 25 fixed on a part of the casing 29 is extended through the curved slot, and the handle can be set in a required position in the slot by means of a nut 26 threaded on the stud 25, so that the peripheral position of the opening 9a can be adjusted through a small angle.

The casing 20 is connected to the suction side of the exhaust fan 13 through pipes It so that the interior of the vacuum box is under the influence of the fan.

The space 27 under the licker-in is a still air space defined by walls 27a, and a damper 28 is provided immediately beneath the feed plate 1 to adjust the air which can be drawn into the still air space 27.

In a carding operation, lapped fibers are fed from the feed rollers and are taken off of the lap by the licker-in, and the thus spread fibers are picked up by the wire cloth surface of the cylinder. Air is drawn into the engine by the influence of the fan 13 as Well as by the rotation of the perforated cylinder, and enters the vacuum box through the perforations of the perforated cylinder and is exhausted from the box by the fan.

Dust, seeds and other heavy foreign matter are separated from the fibers by centrifugal force or by striking with the mote-knife 5, and they fall into the space 27 due to gravity. Short fibers and other lighter matters are sucked into the vacuum box through the perforations 3b and the opening 9a when the fibers are passing in front of the opening in the vacuum box. The fibers floating in theair stream around the perforated cylinder are drawn against the licker-in by the suction effect of the fan, and are picked up by the carding cylinder together with the fibers already deposited on the perforated cylinder.

In FIGURES 4 and 5, a modification of a perforated cylinder and a vacuum box is illustrated. In this modification, a vacuum box 39 is constructed in the form of a U-shaped trough with a large diameter and is supported at each end in a toothed perforated cylinder 33. The trough extends laterally at 45 and extends longitudinally in the perforated cylinder, and the trough terminates adjacent the inner circumferential surface of the perforated cylinder in a large opening 39a. Each end of the trough opens into a pipe 10 connected to exhaust fan 13.

Each end of the perforated cylinder is in the form of a hollow journal rotatably supported on the machine frame 50 by a ball bearing 51, and a pulley 52 secured to one end of the perforated cylinder is driven by a belt whereby the perforated cylinder is rotated. Each end of the vacuum box is rotatably supported in the hollow journals of the perforated cylinder, and a handle 53 is fixed to the vacuum box at its end which extends a little beyond the end of the perforated cylinder, whereby the vacuum box can be turned through a small angle by the handle.

A stud 55 fixed on the handle is slidably inserted in a curved slot 54 provided in a plate 57 which is rigidly secured to the machine frame, and the handle or the vacuum box can be fixed at any position in the slot by tightening a nut 56 on the stud.

thereof, a stationary vacuum box within and extending.

across the entire width of the perfortaed cylinder having a large opening adjacent the internal periphery of said perforated cylinder and extending across the entire width of the box, said vacuum box being journalled in the machine frame within said perforated cylinder, means for manually rotating and fixing said vacuum box in any one of a range of positions, a suction device, means connecting the interior of the vacuum box with said suction device, the opening of said vacuum box being normally placed between where the licker-in is closest to said carding cylinder and where said licker-in faces said still air space, whereby a stream of air from the space under the licker-in flows toward the opening of the vacuum box in the licker-in due to the suction effect of the vacuum box, and good fibers and other light materials floating in the air stream are collected on the periphery of the perforated cylinder while short fibers and other minute materials contained in the fibers deposited on the perforated cylinder are drawn through the perforations therein, into the opening of the vacuum box and are separated from the good fibers.

2. A carding machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the mounting for said licker-in comprises two axially aligned shafts located axially of said perforated cylinder, said perforated cylinder being fixedly mounted on one shaft and rotatably supported on the other shaft and said vacuum box being mounted on the other shaft, the shaft on which said perforated cylinder is mounted having means thereon for being driven and the shaft on which said vacuum box is mounted is stationary, and a handle on the end of said shaft on which said vacuum box is mounted, and means on said casing around said licker-in for adjustably fixing said handle in position, whereby the position of said vacuum box within said perforated cylinder can be varied.

3. A carding machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the ends of said perforated cylinder are hollow journals rotatably mounted on said frame, and said vacuum box comprising a trough with the ends thereof rotatably mounted in. said hollow journals, and means engaging one end of said trough for rotating it relative to said perforated cylinder and holding it in position relative to said frame.

4. A carding machine comprising a feed plate and, a feed roller disposed thereabove for feeding fibers, a licker-in provided adjacent to said feed plate, a carding cylinder disposed on the opposite side of said licker-in from said feed plate with its periphery adjacent .to the periphery of the licker-in, an upper casing covering the upper part of said licker-in and a part of the upper portion of the adjacentlydisposedcarding cylinder, said licker-in comprising a rotatable perforated cylinder having a plurality of saw teeth around the periphery thereof, a stationary vacuum box within said perforated cylinder having an opening adjacent the internal periphery of said e perforated cylinder and extending across theentire width of the perforated cylinder, walls provided below said licker-in defining a still air space, the one of said walls nearest to the feed plate having an opening therein for the inflow of air, and a mote-knife fixed in close proximity to that part of said licker-in where it faces said air space, said opening in said stationary vacuum box being positioned to open at a suitable location between where i said perforated cylinder is closest to said carding cylinder and said mote-knife, whereby when said machine is in operation a stream of air is set up below the licker-in flowing towards the vacuum box within said licker-in.

5. A carding machine as claimed in claim 4 in which a damper is positioned in the opening of the ,said one of said walls defining said still air space.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,962,626 Williams et a1 'Dec. 1, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 462,201 Great Britain Mar. 4, 1937 791,339 Great Britain Feb. 26,1958 

